Emirati women walk past a window display featuring valentines gifts at a mall in Dubai on 13 February, 2008. True to tradition, Saudi Arabia's religious police are zealously enforcing a ban on Valentine's Day symbols in the austere Muslim kingdom. But in other Gulf Arab countries, celebrations of the traditional lovers' day are now common and appear to be gaining acceptance. AFP PHOTO/KARIM SAHIB (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images)

That was the case until very recently in Saudi Arabia, where strict gender segregation laws banned women from working in sales jobs, leaving men to man the registers at shops that sold bras, panties, and other female-centric necessities. But according to Bloomberg News, a new directive from the Labor Ministry is opening doors for women to work in stores that cater exclusively to female clientele, such as lingerie shops. It was passed in July and is now being implemented in numerous stores across the country.

The move will hopefully prevent more upsetting incidents like the one Sarah Abdul- Mohsen suffered recently. "When Saudi student Sarah Abdul- Mohsen asked the salesman for a nude, 32C padded bra, she didn't expect an argument about her cup size," reports Bloomberg. "After all, Abdul-Mohsen was wearing the mandatory black cloak and veil that disguise her shape, in a kingdom where custom forbids men from looking intimately at women. 'He told me, No, you're not a C,' Abdul-Mohsen, who was buying the bra for a cousin, said in an interview at a Ramadan meal for women in Riyadh. 'I felt disgusted. It felt very degrading.'"

A few boutiques have already made the switch to female staffers, although "Male guards may be stationed outside to keep men shoppers away, while storeowners are considering posting signs saying the establishments are for 'Families Only' and hanging heavy curtains to shield store windows so that men won't look in and see women working," the site says. It's certainly not a perfect solution, but it's a step in the right direction, don't you think? Can you ladies imagine having to suffer through a male salesperson when shopping for your most intimate apparel? Do you think this Labor Ministry decree will help pave the way for women to work in all kinds of jobs, not just female-specific retail ones? Discuss.